Real work: Tried and tested

Numerical reasoning skills play a part in almost all roles, so being able to test someone's ability in this area can be vital. They are used by a lot of the UK's top employers as a quick and easy way to find out if a candidate is generally comfortable with numbers. This can be especially useful if the industry you work in doesn't require any formal qualifications in numbers but where competent numerical skills are needed. An example of one such test is shown below:

Look at the graph on the left and answer the following questions. Only one answer is correct for each question. You can use a calculator to work out your answers if you like.

The graph shows the number of cars sold through a national chain of ­garages from year 1 to year 3. The types of cars represented in this graph are: Saxon, Star1 and Goza.

1. If the Star1 car sells at £8,000 each, what is the total value of sales in year 2?

a) £144m b) £176m c) £200m d) £240m

2. By what percentage did total Goza sales number increase from year 1 to year 3?

a) 10% b) 25% c) 33% d)50%

3. Over the three-year period, which car product achieved the largest percentage increase in the number of cars sold?

a) Saxon b) Star1 c) Goza d) Cannot say

4. If Saxon sales, in year 1, represented an increase of 30% on year 0's sales, what was the approximate number of sales in year 0?

a) 10,500 b) 11,500 c) 19,200 d) 23,000

How do you think you scored? The correct answers are 1. C; 2. D; 3. A and 4. B.

"When comfortable in a role, many people slip into the habit of leaning on others when it comes to tackling numbers," says Rob Bailey, managing consultant at business psychology firm OPP. "While using the strengths of others in your team makes sense, ignoring the weakness will put you in a dangerous position in the long term – you may find yourself at the back of the queue when it comes to promotion opportunities, and it will certainly make you less attractive to prospective new employers."